ENGLISH
DANISH
MINI GRAMMAR BOOK
ENGLISH
DANISH
MINI GRAMMAR BOOK
English
Danish
minigrammar
© Univerb Förlag AB ©
Streck & Punkt ! | Graf & Print, Eskilstuna, Sweden 0511
The UNIVERB language courses
make it easier to teach yourself languages!
The UNIVERB language courses
are based on the well known method:
LISTEN—REPEAT—LEARN!
The course is bilingual: Each phrase is first pronounced
in English, then repeated slowly in Danish, leaving you a chance
to catch the proper pronunciation. A short interval in the record-
ing gives you an opportunity to repeat the sentence yourself,
upon which the sentence is repeated at normal speed.
The course is easy to follow and it is you alone who choose
where and when you want to practise.
To make the course as interesting and as viable as possible,
we have concentrated on words and phrases
which you will often need when travelling abroad.
Each course consists of approx. three hours’ training,
two training books and this miniature grammar showing
the fundamental grammatical rules of the Danish language.
The UNIVERB language courses
make it easy for you to start learning a new language
or to brush up your existing knowledge.
You practise your pronunciation and enhance your vocabulary.
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Preface
Danish is the official language in Denmark and an official
language on the Faeroe islands and in Greenland. Danish is
taught as a foreign language in Iceland. In the rest of Scandi-
navia including Finland, people with a working knowledge
of Danish will always be able to understand, at the very least,
official notices, and to make themselves understood, as the
differences between Norwegian and Swedish lie mainly in
the pronunciation. Swedish is one of the official languages in
Finland.
In Denmark, Danish is spoken by approx. 5 million people.
Danish belongs to the Germanic language group, and many
scholars believe that English has its origin in Danish. Even
though this is not immediately evident in the everyday lan-
guage, striking similarities am definitely there and can be
easily observed in the structure as well as in the vocabulary
of the two languages. Thus, englishspoken people can rest as-
sured that acquiring a working knowledge of Danish is by all
means possible.
The purpose of this book is to present an easily comprehen-
sible survey of Danish grammar. A strictly practical approach
has been followed. In the hope that this book can encourage
further studies, we wish you good luck as you set out.
Contents
Preface ................................................................................ 7
Spelling and Pronunciation .................................................. 9
Nouns ............................................................................... 20
Adjectives .......................................................................... 23
Adverbs ............................................................................. 25
Verbs ................................................................................. 26
Pronouns ........................................................................... 33
Prepositions ....................................................................... 40
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Spelling and Pronunciation
The alphabet
Danish uses the same alphabet as English, with three addi-
tional letters which are placed at the end of the alphabet:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z Æ Ø Å
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v x y z æ ø å
Spelling
To most foreigners, the relation between pronunciation and
spelling is not immediately clear. In Danish, an extensive use
is made of mute letters and in some cases, the distinction
between letters is decided only by a very fine margin. E.g.
we write dukke (doll), but pronounce it dåke; we write pege
(point), but we pronounce it peje. However, this should not
discourage you, as the Danes — with whom you share your
difficulties — will allow you a wide margin for mistakes, and
also because spelling is only rarely essential to comprehen-
sion.
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Stress
Like in English, stress on syllables in Danish does not follow a
regular pattern. As a rule, however, stress is normally placed
on the first syllable, e.g.
overtale (persuade), møde (meeting).
Common exceptions are words with the prefixes be-, ge-, er-,
and for-; the latter prefix, however, is stressed when it has an
independent meaning:
Compare for example:
forklare (explain) and forvarme (preheat).
Other exceptions are a number of place names, e.g.:
København, and foreign words, e.g.: politi.
Pronunciation
Danish is the only Germanic language that has preserved
the glottal stop, in Danish: stød. It appears only in stressed
syllables where it falls either on a long vowel or on a voiced
consonant immediately following a vowel. A stressed syllable
can lose its glottal stop when the syllable is the first element
of a compound.
The glottal stop can also be dropped when suffixes are added.
(This, however, does not apply to the enclitic article).
Examples:
with glottal stop
without glottal stop
skål (bowl)
skåle (bowls)
land (country)
lande (to land)
hjem (home)
hjemme (at home)
lang (long)
langsom (slow)
but
skib – skibet (ship – the ship)
skibe – skibene (ships – the ships)
stol – stolen (chair – the chair)
stole – stolene (chairs – the chairs)
Glottal stops can sometimes have an essential bearing in a
phrase. In Danish, this is known as betoning which is best
translated as accentuation.
Compare for example:
with glottal stop
without glottal stop
Stå på bussen
Stå på bussen
(stand on top of the bus)
(get on the bus)
Letters
Vowels
Length
Normally, vowels are long:
a) before a single consonant, e.g.: bade (bathe), læse (read)
b) in monosyllables with a final vowel, e.g.: sk
e (spoon),
på (on)
Vowels are normally short:
a) before a double consonant, e.g.: komme (come),
mælk (milk)
But there are numerous exceptions, e.g.:
Short vowel: kop (cup), bus (bus), da (when), vi (we)
Long vowel: æble (apple), spiste (ate)
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The vowels one by one
vowel writing pronun-
ciation
A 1) when long,
[aa]
klare
[klaarer]
like “a” in c
ar
(clear)
2) when short,
[ah]
hat
[haht]
more like “a” in “c
art”
(hat)
3) you will also hear, as
an alternative to the
above, a more or less
[ææ] ja
[yææ]
“flat” pronunciation of
(yes)
“a”, almost like “a” in
[ai]
tale
[tailer]
“h
at” or tending towards
[talk]
e as in “let”; it can be
[eh]
kan
[kehn]
long or short
(can)
4) A city phenomenon is
the “a” pronounced at
the back of the tongue,
almost like adding an “r” [ar]
tak
[tark]
like “ar” in “b
arn”
(thank you)
E 1) when long, the same
quality as “a” in “pl
ate”
only longer, and a pure [ay]
rede
[raythe]
vowel, not a diphthong
(ready)
2) when short, somewhere
between the “a” in “pl
ate” [ei]
fedt
[feid]
and the “i” in “h
it”
(lard)
vowel writing pronun-
ciation
3) when short, also like
[eh]
let
[lehd]
“e” in “m
et”
(easy/light)
4) when unstressed, like
[e’]
hjælpe [yehl
per]
(help)
I 1) when long,
[ee]
ile
[
eeler]
like “ee” in “bee”
(hurry)
2) when short,
[ee]
liter
[leeder]
like “ee” in “m
eet” or
(liter)
3) like “e” in “l
etter” or
[æ]
drikker [drægger]
(drinks)
4) like “i” in “th
ink”
[e]
ligger
[legger]
(lies)
O 1) when long, like “oa” in
“b
oat”, but a pure vowel, [oa]
sol
[soal]
not a diphthong
(sun)
2) when short, more or less
the same quality of
[oa]
bonde [boaner]
sound
(peasant)
3) when short,
[o]
godt
[god]
also like “o” in l
ot
(well/nice)
U 1) when long, like “oo” in [oo]
frue
[frooer]
“p
ool”
(Madam)
2) when short, like “oo” in [oo]
nu
[noo]
“l
oot”
(now)
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vowel writing pronun-
ciation
Y 1) put your tongue in the
[ew]
nyde
[newdher]
position for “ee” as in
(enjoy)
“b
ee”, but round your lips
lytte
[lewder]
as for the “oo” in “p
ool”
(listen)
Æ 1) when long, vowel quality
fluctuates between that
of “ai” in “
air” and “ai” [ai]
sæbe
[saiber]
in “t
ailor”
(soap)
2) when short,
[ah]
ægte
[eghter]
like “e” in “g
et”
(real/genuine)
3) preceding an “r”, it
sounds more like “a” in [æ]
ært
[ært]
“h
at”; (long or short)
(pea)
Ø 1) like “ur” in “f
ur”, but
[ur]
frøken [frurken]
with the lips rounded;
(Miss)
(long or short)
[u’]
øl
[u’l]
(beer)
Å 1) when long, like “aw” in [aw]
såre
[sawer]
“saw”
(hurt)
2) when short, like “o” in
[o]
bånd
[bon]
“
on”
(tape/band)
3) or closed like “o” in
“
open” (but not
[o’]
åben
[o’ben]
a diphthong)
(open)
Diphthongs
diph- writing pronun-
thong
ciation
AV AF
like “ow” in “now”
[ow]
hav
[how]
(sea)
EJ IJ EG like “I”
[i]
ej
[I]
(not)
EV
like “e” in “pet”
followed by a short
[æo’] levned [læoned]
“oo” sound
(lifestyle)
OU OV like “o” in “pot”
followed by a short
[o’]
sjov
[sjo’]
“oo” sound
(fun)
ØI ØJ ØG like ‘oi” in “c
oil”
[oi]
løgn
[loin]
(untruth)
ØV
like “ur” in “curl”
followed by a short
[ur]
søvn
[sur’n]
“oo” sound
(sleep)
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Consonants
Mute letters
In specific combinations, certain consonants are not pro-
nounced, e.g.:
d in the combination “nd”, “Id”, “rd”, and before “t” and “s”
land (country), kold (cold), bord (table), kendt (known),
plads (place)
g in the suffix -ig, and in most cases after “e”, “i”, “u”, and
“y” and as a final sound
farlig (dangerous), lige (straight), fugl (bird), syg (sick),
dag (day)
h before “v” and “j”
hvor (where), hjerte (heart)
f in the prepositions “af” (of, by, for, off, from) and “ad” (by)
det er pant af dig (it is kind of you)
v in the words
gulv (floor), tolv (twelve)
The consonants one by one
B C F
H L M
as in English
N S V
conso- writing pronun-
nant
ciation
D 1) when at the end of the
word after a vowel, or
between a vowel and
unstressed “e” or “i”,
[th]
mad
[math]
like “th” in “
this”
(food)
2) in all other cases
as in English
G 1) at the beginning of a
word or a syllable, as
[g]
god
[go’]
as go
(good)
2) before “r” and “l”, like
[w]
daglig [dawli]
like “w” in da
wn
(daily)
J 1) like “y” in “yet”
[y]
ja
[yæ]
(yes)
K 1) between vowels, and
sometimes at the end of [g]
frakke [fragger]
a word, like “g” in “goal”
(coat)
2) otherwise like “k” in
[k]
kilo
[kilo’]
“kilo”
(kilo)
}
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conso- writing pronun-
nant
ciation
L 1) always as in “live”,
[l]
sal
[sahl]
never as in “well”
(hall/floor)
NG 1) as in “king”, never as
[ng]
ingen
[ingern]
in “longer”, unless “n”
(nobody)
and “g” are in seperate [ngg] ingre-
[inggray-
syllables
diens
deeehnss]
(ingredient)
P 1) between vowels, and
sometimes at the end of
a word, generally like “b” [b]
tippe
[tibbe]
in “
ball”
(tip/do the pools)
2) otherwise like “p” in
[p]
pakke [pagge]
“
Paul”
(pack)
R 1) pronounced in the back
of the throat, as in
German, at the beginning
of a word, but otherwise
often omitted (but in this
case prolonging a
[r]
rask
[rahsk]
preceding vowel)
(rapid)
SJ 1) usually like “sh” in
“
shower”, but may also be
pronounced as the com-
bination of “ss” and
[sh]
sjov
[shorv]
“y” in “bless you”
(fun)
conso- writing pronun-
nant
ciation
T 1) between vowels, and
sometimes at the end of [d]
bytte
[bewder]
a word, like “d” in “dog”
(exchange)
2) otherwise like “t” in
[t]
tal
[ta’l]
“tee”
(numbers)
Pronunciation is by many, experts as well as laymen, consid-
ered the main difficulty in Danish. The Danes, who are aware
of this, and delighted by any foreigner learning Danish, will
therefore allow you a margin for mistakes. Danes will have
absolutely no trouble understanding you, as a correct pronun-
ciation is but rarely essential to comprehension.
We recommend that you spend some time with this chapter,
before you proceed with your textbook.
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Nouns
Gender
Most Danish nouns are either common or neuter. The easiest
way to learn the gender of a noun is to learn the noun togeth-
er with its indefinite article.
A few nouns may be either common or neuter as you please,
e.g.:
“en cirkus” or “et cirkus” (circus)
“en indeks” or “et indeks” (index)
Other nouns may get a different sense when the gender is
changed:
“en vår” (springtime)
“et vår” (pillow case)
Cases
The only noticeable case declination in Danish nouns is the
Genitive (possessive form). Like in English, it is indicated by
adding an “s” to the word:
Peter is reading
Peter læser
Peter is reading a book
Peter læser
en bog
It is Peter’s book
Det er Peters bog
Give the book to Peter
Giv Peter bogen
Number
Generally, nouns of either gender are provided with the end-
ing -e, -r or -er to indicate the plural:
Common
Neuter
Singular
kvinde
hus
(woman)
(house)
drøm
sted
(dream)
(place)
Plural
kvinder
huse
drømme
steder
Which ending to choose is a rather complex matter. We sug-
gest a method of trial and error or that you remember the end-
ings together with the words as you enhance your vocabulary.
One thing is clear, though: A stressed syllable ending in a
consonant will double the consonant before adding another
ending.
Nouns ending in -el, -en- or -er:
In most cases, the -e will disappear when forming the definite
form or the plural:
artikel – artiklen – artikler
(article)
hilsen – hils(e)nen – hils(e)ner
(greeting)
neger – negeren – neg(e)re
(negro)
lærer – læreren – lærere
(teacher)
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A few words change vowel in the plural, e.g.:
Singular
Plural
mand (man)
mænd (men)
ko (cow)
køer (cows)
(Again, you will notice the resemblance with English).
Articles
The Indefinite Article
Common gender: “en”
en mand
(a man)
en kvinde
(a woman)
Neuter gender:
“et”
et hus
(a house)
The Enclitic Article (definite article added as an ending)
In Danish, unlike most European languages, the definite ar-
ticle is enclitic, i.e. attached to the end of the word instead
of placing it before the word, so the equivalent of the English
“the” will be as follows:
Common
Neuter
Singular
manden
huset
(the man)
(the house)
Plural
mændene
husene
Adjectives
Adjectives ending in -el, -en or -er loose the “-e” before -l, -n,
and -r when an ending starting with a vowel is attached to it:
ædel – ædle – ædlere – ædlest
(noble sing. – noble plur. – nobler – noblest)
doven – dovne
(lazy sing. – lazy plur.)
Two identical consonants can not exist before an -l, -n or -r:
gammel – gamle (old)
rådden – rådne (rotten)
sikker – sikre – sikrere – sikrest (safe)
Normally, a “-t” is added when the noun, that the adjective
relates to, is of neuter gender:
en gammel bil
et gammelt hus
(common)
(neuter)
(an old car)
(an old house)
Adjectives ending in -sk do normally not add a “-t” in the
neuter gender:
et persisk marked
(a Persian market)
et musikalsk eventyr
(a musical tale)
et elektrisk hegn
(an electrical fence)
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Adjectives ending in a stressed vowel are, as a rule, left un-
declined:
et ru bræt
(a rough board)
de tro tjenere
(the faithful servants)
Exceptions from this rule:
words ending in “å” and the words “ny” and “fri” add a ”t” in
the neuter gender:
et blåt tørklæde (a blue scarf)
et nyt ur
(a new watch)
et frit liv
(a free life)
The comparative is formed either by adding “-ere” as an end-
ing or by placing the word “mere” (more) before the adjective
(notice again the resemblance to English usage). Don’t forget
to leave out the “t” in the neuter when forming the compara-
tive!
Likewise, the superlative is formed by adding “-est” as an end-
ing or by placing the word “mest” (most) before the adjective
(again like in English).
Generally, words of two syllables or more, tend to take
“mere” and “mest” instead of the “-ere” and “-est” version.
Adverbs
Adverbs come in two kinds:
1) those that are “genuine adverbs”:
e.g. “aldrig” (never), “gerne” (willingly), “sandelig”
(indeed). “ret” (rather), and
2) those that are formed by adding a “-t” to an adjective, eg.
“stort” (big), “hurtigt” (fast), “relativt” (relatively) – like the
English “-ly” in fact.
Adverbs formed on the basis of adjectives ending in “-ig” or
“-lig” do not always add a “-t” — if they indicate a degree,
you can choose to leave out the “-t”:
Der var afsindig(t) mange mennesker til receptionen.
(An incredibly large number of people attended the reception.)
Besøget var væsentlig(t) større end beregnet.
(The number of visitors was much larger than expected.)
Filmen var utrolig(t) spændende.
(The film was incredibly exciting.)
Whereas the “-t” should not be left out when the adverb indi-
cates the way in which things behave or exist:
Hun kan ikke stave rigtigt. (She is unable to spell properly.)
Hunden vendte sig velbehagelig
t om på ryggen.
(The dog rolled pleasingly to its back)
Manden smilede venligt til mig. (The man smiled kindly at me.)
So generally, you may choose to use the -t or to omit it!
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Verbs
Conjugations
Apart from the fact that Danish — like most languages — has
regular and irregular verbs, the conjugation of Danish verbs is
easy:
I walk
jeg går
you walk
du går
he, she, it walks han, hun, den, det går
we walk
vi går
you walk
I, De går
they walk
de går
You see – it is “går” all the way!
This present tense is formed by adding an “-r” to the infinitive:
infinitive:
at gå (to walk)
present tense, active form:
jeg går
present tense, passive form:
der gås
In verbs ending in a stressed vowel, you have two categories:
1. Ending in -e, -o, æ, -ø or -å:
In these verbs, the -r is added directly to the vowel:
Active form:
Det sner – jeg tror – han ler – vi får
(It is snowing – I believe – he laughs – we get)
Passive form:
Det ses – maden tøs op – det kan nås
(It is seen – the food is being defrosted – it can be reached)
2. Ending in -i, -u or -y:
Here, the -r or -s may be added directly, or you may insert an
-e before the -r or -s:
“Saften sis” or “saften sies”
(The juice is being strained)
“Det dur ikke” or “det duer ikke”
(It is no use)
“Knappen skal sys i” or “knappen skal syes i”
(The button has to be sewn on)
(but you may also choose not to add the “e”!)
The trend is a declining use of “e”.
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The Past Tense
The regular verbs add -ede (so called “weak” ending):
tror – troede
(believe – believed)
or -te (so called “strong” ending):
læser – læste
(read – read)
The irregular verbs change vowel:
giver — gav
(give – gave)
or take no ending at all:
sover – sov
(sleep – slept)
The easiest way to learn which solution to choose, is to learn
the past tense together with the present tense as you develop
your vocabulary.
The imperative
As a rule, the stem of the verb (the infinitive minus the “-e”
ending) will form the imperative form:
Hils din mor!
(Give my regards to your mother!)
Skriv til mig!
(Please write me!)
Glem det!
(Forget it!)
Unless the stem would then end in two identical consonants,
in which case one of the consonants is erased:
Tak for mad!
(Thank you for the food!) – (Thanking
the hostess for the food is a special
Scandinavian phenomenon which takes
place after each meal)
Kom snart igen!
(Please come back soon!)
Spil musikken igen! (Play the music again, please!)
Verbs ending in a stressed vowel will remain unchanged in
the imperative:
Sy selv knappen i!
(Sew on the button yourself!)
Se op!
(Look up!)
Gå ikke over sporet! (Don’t cross the track!)
Even to the Danes, imperatives ending in odd letter combina-
tions such as -bn (åbn), -sI (pensl), -str (klistr), -gtn (sagtn),
-ndl (behandl) should be avoided. Most Danes would use an
equivalent expression instead.
Modal auxiliary verbs
“kan”, “må” and “bør” (can, may, ought to) are – like other
verbs – not conjugated.
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Compound Tenses
are constructed by means of the auxiliary verbs “er” and “har”
plus the participle form of the verb:
The perfect tense
indicates concluded actions seen from the present:
Han har spist
(He has eaten)
Jeg har taget toget hertil
(I travelled by train to get here)
De er blevet snydt
(You have been fooled)
The pluperfect tense
indicates concluded actions seen from the past:
Vi havde spist, da han kom (We had already eaten
when he arrived)
De havde lejet en bil i ferien (They had rented a car
for the holidays)
Hun var omkommet af kulde, (She had died from cold
inden redningen nåede frem before the rescue team
reached her)
The future tense
is originally constructed from an auxiliary verb plus the infini-
tive.
There is a growing tendency to use the present tense instead
of future, also because it seems awkward always to use an-
other verb to indicate the future tense:
Future
Present
Jeg skal køre om fem minutter
(jeg kører om fem minutter)
(I’II be going in five minutes)
Han vil ikke kunne klare det
(han klarer det ikke)
(He will not be able to make it)
Du viI komme en time for sent (du kommer en time for sent)
(You will be one hour late)
A large number of participle forms are used as adjectives
– and are conjugated accordingly:
Bilerne er lejet or lejede
(The cars are rented)
Han sælger brugte biler
(He sells second hand cars)
Plakaterne solgtes i
(The posters were sold
nummererede eksemplarer
in numbered copies)
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Negation
Only one word: “ikke”. In most cases placed in connection
with the verb:
Han kommer ikke i aften. (He will not be here tonight.)
Jeg synes ikke,
(I don’t think you should go.)
du skal tage afsted.
In some cases, however, English would place the negation
logically: I hope you don’t mind, where Danish places the ne-
gation in the first part of the sentence: Jeg håber ikke, du har
noget imod det.
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Singular
Plural
1. jeg (I)
vi (we)
2. du, De (you)
I (you)
3. han, hun, den, det
(he, she, it)
de (they)
Personal pronouns are used together with verbs (just like in
English).
“Du” or “De”?
The general trend since the last few decades is an increasing
use of the more familiar form “du”. Observe however, that
the polite form “De” is used with people you don’t know
and with people whom you want to show your respect. If, in
English, you would use “Sir” or “Madam” choose the Danish
“De”.
“I” may be used without any regard to familiarity when ad-
dressing more than one person.
Do observe that “De” and “I” are written in capital letters
– the latter to distinguish it from the “de” indicating “they”.
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35
These pronouns may be declined in case (like in English):
– Either as a result of their function in the sentence (object):
Singular
1. mig (Han redder mig)
(He saves me)
2. dig/Dem (Han redder dig/Dem) (He saves you)
3. ham/hende/den/det
(He saves him/her/it)
(Han redder ham/hende/den/det)
Plural
1. os (Han redder os)
(He saves us)
2. jer (Han redder jer)
(He saves you)
3. dem (Han redder dem)
(He saves them)
– or directed by a preposition:
Singular
1. for mig
(for me)
2. for dig/Dem
(for you)
3. for ham/hende/den/det
(for him/her/it)
Plural
1. for os
(for us)
2. for jer
(for you)
3. for dem
(for them)
The reflexive pronoun
“sig” is used in the singular as well as in the plural, otherwise
these pronouns are identical with the declinated personal
pronouns:
Singular
Plural
Jeg vasker mig (I wash)
vi vasker os (we wash)
du vasker dig (you wash) I vasker jer (you wash)
han vasker sig (he washes) de vasker sig (they wash)
The impersonal pronoun
“man” is used very much like the English “you” or “they” (or
“one”) to indicate a general view:
Man mener, at ilden var påsat.
(They think it is arson.)
Man siger, at det snart bliver forår. (They say that spring
is near.)
Man har aldrig fundet årsagen.
(They never found
the reason.)
Man bliver aldrig træt af det.
(You never get fed up
with it.)
Man kan aldrig vide.
(You’ll never know/
one can never know.)
The same effect may often be obtained by using the indefinite
pronoun “det” plus the passive form of a verb:
Det menes, at ilden var påsat.
Det siges, at det snart bliver forår.
Det forventes at ske i morgen.
“Man” is never declined.
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Demonstrative pronouns
Singular
Plural
(here)
common
denne
disse
neuter
dette
(there)
common
den
de/dem
neuter
det
Denne bil er bedre end den derhenne.
(This car is better than the one over there.)
Disse stole er for hårde, ad os prøve dem, der står ved siden
af.
(These chairs are too rigid, let us try the ones next to them.)
De sko, jeg har på, klemmer.
(The shoes I am wearing hurt.)
There is a tendency, however, to use “dem” instead of “disse”
(but mostly together with “her”):
Kan du lide den her?
(Do you like this one?)
“de” is used as a subject, whereas “dem” is used as a direct or
indirect object:
De æbler ser gode ud, skal vi købe dem?
(Those apples look delicious, should we buy some?)
Possessive pronouns
Singular
Plural
1.
mit/min
vor/vores
2.
din/dit/Deres
jeres
3.
hans/hendes/
dens/dets
deres
These pronouns, of course, depend on what they relate to. If
they relate to a neuter noun, you use the “-t version”, other-
wise you use the “-n version”:
Min taske (my bag)
Mine tasker (my bags)
Dit hus (your house)
Dine huse (your houses)
Dens pels (its fur)
Dens kløer (its claws)
Dets dør (its door)
Dets vinduer (its windows)
“hans”, “hendes”, “jeres” and “deres” are always the same:
Hans taske – hendes tasker – jeres hus – deres huse
Whether to use “vor” or “vores” is more or less a matter of
taste.
Vor store datter – vores børn
(Our eldest daughter – our children)
vores datter – vore fælles børn
(Our daughter – our children)
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The relative pronouns
“som” and “der” both relate to a previous sentence or word.
In most cases the two words are equivalent:
Manden, der (or “som”) bor i dette hus, er blind (relates to
“manden”, i.e. sing.)
(The man who lives in this house is blind.)
De katte, der (or “som”) bor i baggården (relates to “katte”,
i.e. plur.)
(The cats that live in the backyard.)
However, you can always use “som” whereas “der” can never
be used as a direct or indirect object.
Bordet, som vi spiste ved, var rundt (relates to “bordet”, i.e.
neuter)
(The table at which we ate was round.)
Båden, som vi sejlede med, var hvidmalet (relates to “båden”,
i.e. common).
(The boat that we sailed with was painted white.)
Interrogative pronouns
All start in “hv-”.
“Hvem” relates to persons (Who)
“Hvad” relates to things (What)
“Hvilken/hvilket/hvilke” relates to both kinds (Which)
“Hvis” relates to a person in the genitive case:
Hvem er den man?
(Who is that man?)
Hvad er det for en farve?
(What colour is this?)
Hvilken øl kan du bedst lide (Which beer do you prefer
– Carlsberg eller Tuborg?
– Carlsberg or Tuborg?)
Hvilken vej skal vi gå?
(Which way do we choose?)
Hvilket af disse to flag er
(Which of these two flags
det danske?
is the Danish one?)
Hvilke sko synes du bedst om (Which shoes do you prefer –
– de røde eller de sorte?
the red ones or the black ones?)
Hvis frakke er det?
(Whose coat is this?)
Indefinite pronouns
Common
Neuter
Plural
al/hele
alt
alle
(all)
anden
andet
andre
(other)
nogen
noget
nogle/nogen (some)
ingen
intet
ingen
(none)
mange
(many)
flere
(several)
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Prepositions
In every language, prepositions follow their own logic. Also in
Danish, you should give them thorough attention as you meet
them. We recommend that you learn them as your vocabulary
grows. See for instance the following examples:
Drengen går i skole
(in)
(The boy goes to school)
Lærlingen går på skole
(on)
(The apprentice attends a course)
Publikum går i teatret
(in)
(The audience goes to the theatre)
Skuespilleren går på teatret
(on)
(The actor goes to the theatre)
When in doubt: choose the preposition that you would have
chosen in English – the two languages are very much alike.
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Art. nr 20511
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Streck & Punkt ! | Graf & Print, Eskilstuna, Sweden 0511